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Resocializing a Pound Dog
Don_Julio
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
A week ago my mom saw an ad for a 10 year old terrier mix that was at a local animal shelter for almost two months. They were trying to get her sent to a good home because she was facing euthanization should she not of been adopted. Anyway, she filled out the paper work and adopted her.
We brought her home yesterday, however, we ran into a problem. My sister got kicked out of her roommates house because her roommate told her to get rid of her three year old little dog and she refused. So she came home (on dad's invitation) with the dog whose also a very aggressive dog. Later that night the dog "managed" (more like my sister let it out) of her room and he attacked the new adopted dog lacerating the back of her head near the right ear. She doesn't need stiches, however, she can't "shimmy shake" without hurting her wound.
Overall though, its been really bad. The dog at first was very happy, she played in the backyard, was running everywhere, played, etc. She was a very happy dog. However, now she shows all the signs of being scared. She walks with her head bowed lower than her back, tail is between her legs, she isn't eating, and shes very scared/nervous. The only time she seems at peace is when shes riding in the car with us (she was very relaxed when we took her to the Pet store today) or outside in general. Shes terrified to be in the house now.
I've read various guides online on reintroducing her to our house and we've seem to be on the right track (We've been very gentle, patient, and loving towards her). We haven't tried to reintroduce her to the other dog (and especially the sister's dog. Shes suppose to be moving again soon so we hope we don't have to reintroduce the two again). She seems though to be at comfort whenever myself or my mother is around. However, shes still very shaken and uncertain.
Overall though I'm asking for advice in trying to reintroduce her to the house and help resocialize her so she doesn't live in fear forever. I'm want to avoid the ad hominems regarding how irresponsible my family is for A, B, C, and D leading to E, F, G, and H from happening because it doesn't help this dog nor us in helping her recover from the traumatic experience. I'll post updates regarding her progress as time goes on for further help.
We brought her home yesterday, however, we ran into a problem. My sister got kicked out of her roommates house because her roommate told her to get rid of her three year old little dog and she refused. So she came home (on dad's invitation) with the dog whose also a very aggressive dog. Later that night the dog "managed" (more like my sister let it out) of her room and he attacked the new adopted dog lacerating the back of her head near the right ear. She doesn't need stiches, however, she can't "shimmy shake" without hurting her wound.
Overall though, its been really bad. The dog at first was very happy, she played in the backyard, was running everywhere, played, etc. She was a very happy dog. However, now she shows all the signs of being scared. She walks with her head bowed lower than her back, tail is between her legs, she isn't eating, and shes very scared/nervous. The only time she seems at peace is when shes riding in the car with us (she was very relaxed when we took her to the Pet store today) or outside in general. Shes terrified to be in the house now.
I've read various guides online on reintroducing her to our house and we've seem to be on the right track (We've been very gentle, patient, and loving towards her). We haven't tried to reintroduce her to the other dog (and especially the sister's dog. Shes suppose to be moving again soon so we hope we don't have to reintroduce the two again). She seems though to be at comfort whenever myself or my mother is around. However, shes still very shaken and uncertain.
Overall though I'm asking for advice in trying to reintroduce her to the house and help resocialize her so she doesn't live in fear forever. I'm want to avoid the ad hominems regarding how irresponsible my family is for A, B, C, and D leading to E, F, G, and H from happening because it doesn't help this dog nor us in helping her recover from the traumatic experience. I'll post updates regarding her progress as time goes on for further help.
Don_Julio on
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Otherwise, keep them separated. Do you have a crate for the new dog? A safe place of its own will go a long way.
As for your current situation, Aoi has it right - get the other dog out of there ASAP. That has to be the first step, given you have no control over how your sister or her dog behaves. Get your dog out of the house regularly for walks and the like, as the more time she spends outside of the current home environment the better.
You may want to discuss the rest with a professional...
My mom and brother someone socialized a german shepherd/rot/mutt mix female and a boston terrier female to each other. Needless to say, the only way that was even possible was going and buying a crate to put the terrier in when the terrier was introduced to their house.
Try not to reward his scared, submissive behaviour right now. You don't have to correct it or be mean, just ignore that behaviour and reward any calm behaviour if you see it.
Your dog was fine before, and now it knows that a terrifying mad dog that wants to KILL IT is lurking behind a specific door. I'd be walking with my tail between my legs too if a murderer was confined in my home behind a door someone didn't always even shut properly.
What I would do is wait until that situation is resolved, then assess your dog at home and then at a dog park (leave him on leash first time just to gauge). Don't be nervous or worried or your dog will be as well, just take him by some other dogs casually and see how he goes.
If there's a problem, then you would probably get best results from socialisation at a class of some kind.
Okay. You said she's relaxed outside. Does that include walks? Also, do you know anyone with a nice? You want to build up her confidence by exposing her to a dog who is friendly (but not going to jump all over her and freak her out.) Don't force the terrier past her comfort level, she doesn't have to be best buds with the nice dog the first time they meet.
About the cowering at home--since she's relaxed outside, my guess is most of her nervousness comes from being attacked by Crazy Dog. If your sister is moving out soon and if she keeps Crazy Dog locked away from the terrier until she moves out, I think the terrier's confidence will increase over time. But remember, this dog was in a tiny dog run at the pound for two months. Even without Crazy Dog's attack, getting a home is a HUGE adjustment and some pound dogs are overwhelmed at first.
Thanks to your mom for adopting a 10 year old doggie, by the way! So many get passed over!
Yeah, it was really sad that at the pound they were trying to discourage us from getting her. They were saying "She has bad teeth, breath, shes old, etc.". They really didn't want us to adopt her.
A dog that is attacking other dogs can attack humans or other animals. This behavior cannot be allowed to continue. You're not being a hardass, you are trying to save your dog, potential victims (I have seen the aftermath of dog attacks from 'aggressive dogs') and the aggressive dog itself who will be immediately euthanized if it were on a walk and lunged at a child who approached it.
It's not so much an issue of breed, but of VERY POOR TRAINING.
Sorry if I sound angry at your sister, but people who are irresponsible about pets really push my buttons. I think the saying is "There are no problem dogs, there are only problem owners."
edit: Also, yeah, mad props for adopting an older animal. I just adopted a 3 year old shelter cat 2 weeks ago and he's great. Kittens and puppies get scooped up immediately and don't even get me started on fucking puppy mills like petland.
Our new problem is the new dog isn't eating. She nibbles at the food, but that's it. How can we get her to eat again?
Dogs are pack animals so if it is encouraged by attention when it is scared, it will know it was right to be scared.
Put out food, if the dog doesn't eat it, just pick it up awhile later and try again in an hour or two. Be calm and happy. You could try hand feeding though I've never had to do that, don't do this if the dog is acting scared or nervous though. You must not give the impression that you are rewarding it.
Seriously, DO NOT ENCOURAGE THE FEAR RESPONSE. Dogs are not people. You're not comforting it and making it feel safe, you're letting it know that it should be scared and it will repeat the behavior/attitude.
And just so I can claim some credibility, my parents and I foster sat dogs for the humane shelter who were severely abused for most of my life. I'm pretty experienced with dogs being scared of past events. Positive training is both the best way to train and obviously the most humane, however you'll just have to wait until the dog picks up your attitude that everything will be okay and then you reward that behavior. Repeat until your dog is again a happy, outgoing and a brave little girl.
Probably just not used to it, though.
If Crazy Dog is going to be there a while, he needs to be kept under control at all times to ensure he doesn't attack the terrier. I think you said it was a small dog? Probably never been told "no" in its life, poor little bastard. Your sister did her dog no favor . . . but you already know that. If Crazy Dog is anywhere except shut in your sister's room, he needs to be on a leash. If you think your sister is irresponsible enough to "accidentally" let him loose in the house again, make sure you put the terrier in a crate when you aren't around. A crate can be a little haven of security for a dog, and it will physically separate the terrier from Crazy Dog.
About the eating, how big a dog is this? It is very easy to overfeed a little dog, a quarter cup looks like nothing in even the smallest bowls. Is she losing weight? If not I wouldn't worry about it too much. Do you have a vet visit set up? Many will give discounts to a first check-up for a newly adopted dog.
You need to set up some really good management to keep everybody in the house safe. Is there anyway to set up an airlock system where there is always two doors or babygates between the terrier and your sister's dog? A crate door and a bedroom door would count.
Unfortunately, no good instructor is going to let a dog with a bite history including drawing blood into a group class without a private evaluation/lesson first, possibly several. I would highly recommend you sister look into training for her dog. There are training tools that can help nearly any dog. Having said that sometimes one dog just doesn't like another dog, it happens especially with older dogs. I wouldn't count on being able to have those two together in the foreseeable future.
This is a big problem here. We did this a lot on Saturday because she was constantly shaking and trying to find ways to escape out of the backyard when she was outside. However, today we still did this a little bit, but when my mom wasn't home I kinda let her have "Free reign" around the kitchen (shes comfortable here) and she ended up sleeping most of the day. When she was awake she did some wandering around, but not as much as she did on Friday. Shes also now walking around the backyard a little bit, but she stops and just stares off sometimes.
We ended up having to hand feed her. We used baby food (It didn't have onion powder or anything bad for dogs) and she at first nibbled at it and then gouged down half a jar before being content. We then fed her an hour later again and she ate the rest of it which calmed my parents and I down a lot because it was the first thing she ate anything since Friday. After she ate she seemed a lot happier and ended up sleeping all evening.
Overall though. Comparing Saturday to Sunday shes moving slightly more than she was on Saturday, though shes a bit nervous. Shes also finally eating a little bit and drinking more water now. Going off of your advice I just need to find a way to stop babying her and help her go back to normal doggie self =|
I'm not questioning your credibility. Overall though I'm just really nervous about this because I feel just awful for adopting the dog thinking that she would have a great home to live the last few years of it's life out at and then she gets attacked the first night here. Then I'm not really sure if I'm helping her recover at this point or encouraging her to be scared. ehh, its very frustrating atm. I'm just eager for this stage to go away and have her as a happy lovable dog that she was on Friday again.
We bought him a muzzle IF hes ever out with the other dog so that he can't do anything aggressively. Overall though, its weird because he gets along with our older dog just fine. (Or maybe its because hes four times his size) Though the older dog gets annoyed when he starts jumping on him and that's when we separate them. The older dog also gets along with the adoptee dog, but she just stays in her stupor when hes around her.
Though if its worth mentioning. The neighbor's dog barking seemed to get a subtle "woof" out of the adoptee. Would it be a bad idea to emulate this moment to see if it we can get emotion out of her.
I think we're all on the same page and you'll do fine. Just tell your sister to get her head out of her ass and take care of the dog that is her responsibility. A dog is aggressive like that because a lot of things have gone wrong with it, not due to its nature.
edit: This thread has also reminded me that I am super into animal training and fostering healthy pet/owner relationships. I should probably look into that as a career option. Win-win!
As an FYI a muzzle is not a cure all. Depending on the relative sizes of the dogs involved your sister's dog can definitely do significant damage and possibly kill the terrier while wearing a muzzle. Do not trust the dogs together just because the one is wearing a muzzle.
If she liked the baby food a lot definitely get her teeth checked out. Wet food may be the answer.
It is possible to reinforce the behaviors associated with fear. If you do this you will end up with a dog who is no longer scared but still acts like they are scared because they know it will get them affection/reinforcement/treats. It is not possible to reinforce fear. Fear is an emotion. By definition it is only possible to reinforce behaviors. It is also possible to comfort a dog. Just sitting next to you in contact, long slow strokes the entire length of her body and a calm low tone of voice tend to be comforting. Think pavlov, if every time the terrier sees something she previously found scary good things happen, soon they won't be scary any more.
Some people act really weird when trying to comfort their dogs. If you get weird body posture or get stressed out that your dog is about to get scared or talk in a higher pitched voice than normal your dog may think that you are scared as well and there is a good reason for her to be scared. But you aren't reinforcing or rewarding fear, you are just convincing her she should be scared.
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